If theres a heaven....

[Lizard King]

I don't believe in god or heaven. But a popular belief is that when your loved ones die they go to heaven, where they look down on you. When you die you join them.

Well shit. I know I won't be able to look them in the eye if they've been watching me!

Imagine coming face to face with your grandmother, the only thing you can think about is the time you introduced your dick to the vacuum cleaner. (BTW I HAVEN'T done that - it was just an example)

I think I prefer the thought of no afterlife...

[KennyH]

i can't comprehend looking at someone and them not thinking anyhting... i can't understand someone not having any kind of emotion or thought- imagine being placed in a box, and having worms crawl through you-


that is a weird issue i deal with

[Steveo]

It doesn't matter what everyone else thinks as long as you think on your own two feet and can get in to good situations and out of bad ones, you will be alright. I believe their is a God, and a heaven. I believe in satan and the devil, but not the Stories in the bible. Too many tales seem like.

Ahkmid.

[bellaracing]

umm LIZARDKING has made this thread a confession booth for himself.
"introduced your dick to the vacuum cleaner"
he he he haven't done that yet

[Lizard King]

Nah, it was just something that bugged me about the idea of heaven. If it was true then all your family who died before you can see the shameful stuff you've done.

The vacuum thing was the most shameful thing I could think of that a person might do. NOT ME.

I would hope it was a physical impossibility for you to try it yourself Bella.

[bellaracing]

LizardKing
I would hope so too, or that would make me a freak or something *lol*

[bellaracing]

Oh yeah and about that shameful thing..........I have never done anything bad I am a good girl hehehe

[Seb928S@af]

Originally posted by bellaracing
Oh yeah and about that shameful thing..........I have never done anything bad I am a good girl hehehe

Good Little Girl
Right?

[bellaracing]

Seb928S
Hey I am totally pure I have never done anything bad in my entire life, all 18 years of it *lol*

[ichthus]

well, bella, I'll probably make a lot of enemies with the following advise, but that's cool cuz I like causing strife.

That last is not something you want to say in a forum filled with guys. It's just asking for trouble. Men have a natural desire to corrupt the pure, further corrupt the corrupted, and...well...corrupt. So sorry to say, but it's true: most of us are schmucks.

[JD@af]

In many ways, I am a realist. I see heaven as a creation of early primitive minds, when virtually everyone believed in God and religion. People could not explain natural phenomena, and out of fear of the unknown, they created the idea of God, a supreme being who created earth and the heavens. Many to this day take comfort in the idea of a place called heaven, where if you "behave" yourself in life, you will have an afterlife without pain and suffering. I have nothing to either prove or disprove this notion. I can't deny that I do feel comforted in thinking that it could be real; so I say why not just accept that I will never know until the day I die, so have faith and keep your options open until that day does come to pass.

Conversely, I am very much against some of the teachings surrounding the notion of heaven. Think about the Middle Ages in Europe. For perhaps 600 years or more, the teachings of the church instructed people that life was merely an act of preparation for the afterlife. How unfortunate for them if there is no heaven, and they withheld themselves from partaking in countless naughty deeds for fear of the unknown, only in the end to get shafted by blowing their only chance at life. Hey, I could be wrong, maybe they were prepared for top billing in heaven with flying colors. Who am I to say?

It wasn't until the early to middle 15th Century when people began to reexamine life and dare to question the word of the church: this was the dawn of the Renaissance. Still, the church held a lot of pull with the way people thought and how they acted. But scientists began making discoveries that contradicted the teachings of the church, the very words of the Bible. I forget who, but one famous scientist had one of his disciples wait until his death to print and distribute his research findings as he wanted to avoid being excommunicated and labeled a heretic. The father of geology (I am sure my geology professors would beat the tar out of me for forgetting his name) in either the 17th or 18th Century in Scotland studied rates of erosion in rock formations near where he lived, and was able to easily prove that they were much, much older (in fact millions or even billions of years older) than the 6,000 to 7,000 years that had supposedly elapsed since the earth's creation. The list of examples of this sort can go on and on. The fact that only in the last decade did the Catholic church acknowledge that Columbus was correct in his assessment that the earth is, in fact, not flat, but rather round, is a laughable example of the impracticality of many religious teachings in contemporary times of scientific achievement.

I do not know the roots of atheism and agnostic beliefs, but one can be sure that with the influx of scientific knowledge into the lives of ordinary people, faith in God and the importance of religious belief have fallen by the wayside for increasing masses of people, particularly in our liberal society that permits people to think for themselves and express their beliefs more liberally than any other society in the world. Yet on the same token, for me personally, I can't help but believe in something. I can't say what. Is it fate? Is it a streak of good fortune in the grand scheme of things? I don't know. I do know that many things have happened to me that could have resulted in serious injury, dismemberment, or death… and they didn't. I can not explain them, and no one else I've ever met can either. But I can't ignore them. I see the world more clearly than Vincent Vega (a la Pulp Fiction), and to me these unexplained phenomena, however improbable and unprovable, provide for me faith in the all-mighty unknown. You want to call that God, so be it. I believe strongly that there is someone or thing looking out for me. I am forever indebted, and if I may be so presumptuous to say so, blessed.

It is so easy to find ways to disprove the existence of God. Yes, there are countless logical arguments that prevent God's disproval, but in everyday rational thought, the notion of God can easily be tossed to the wind. But finding something to believe in despite this it is a real trick. I find the idea of faith today to be stronger than it's ever been in history. And I find that faith in the unknown translates into faith in yourself, i.e. self-confidence and a positive outlook on the world at large.

So, in a nutshell, I do believe in God.

[prit0009]

Hello All,
i'm a friend of Ichthus and I'd have to say I totally believe in heaven, God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, hell and Satan.
So much in fact that's why i'm currently at a Bible College learning more about everything.
My question is how do you think this world, in all it's splendor and diversity, was formed? Do you really think it was just some far out cosmic 'mistake'?

[JD@af]

I hate to say it, and go against that which has been handed down by the apostles, but yes, I believe it was a cosmic "mistake" (mistake is not usually the term I choose to use here) that formed everything.. unless it is masked to be as such except on very high levels that are as of yet out of our reach and perception. Maybe someday we will find that there are unexplained phenomena that no advances in scientific research are able to shed light upon.

What I believe in is different. Too intangible to put into layman's terms other than as I've outlined above.

[prit0009]

I'm glad you are open to the possibility of God. I'm sure He's interested in you and is nuts about you.
On the other hand i'm sorry that it's hard for you to believe this universe and all created was developed and put into existence by this God you are open to the possiblity of.
I think he designed everything with love and for a purpose. every single this was created with much care.
basically i guess what i'm trying to say is, whether you believe it or not, God loves you and created you for a purpose.

[JD@af]

You know, I don't doubt that. Not for a second. I do too many goofy things that I get away with unscathed, like I've said before, for there to be any doubt in my mind that there is something greater out there. But a little reassurance never hurt anybody, so thanks for your positive input.